The press office of the Meshrano Jirga

January 3, 2021 

In the plenary session of the Meshrano Jirga led by Speaker of the House, in addition to issuing declaration regarding the security of journalists and civil society activists, relevant officials commented on recent dismissals in a number of departments. 

Mawlavi Gholam Mohi-ud-Din Monsef, Chairman of the Legislative, Judicial and justice Affairs Commission and other senators, asked questions about the reduction of the number of employees in various government departments, how to determine the fate of the dismissed employees, the total number of civil servants, the difference formation between the year 1400 and the previous year, accurate statistics of districts, employment of a number of women as deputy governors without exams, the fate of dismissal of district governors, and recruitment of a number of district governors and their deputies in a new phase which is not in accordance with the Civil Service Law and other issues were raised by the senators from the acting of Independent Commission for Administrative Reform and Civil Service and Deputy Director of Local Organs. 

Then, Seyed Hashmatullah Hashemi, Acting of the Independent Commission for Administrative Reform and Civil Service, in response to questions, said that the total number of civil service employees reached 430 thousand and this year there has not been much change in the number of the government formations, and cases such as lack of regular budget, job interference and the creation of new teacher positions can be considered as reasons for organizational dismissals in some ministries and departments. Moreover, the mass dismissal of about 1,200 employees

 of the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum was carried out based on the investigations and the proposal of the said Ministry and the decree of the President, and the commission has not been consulted and it has not yet been determined to which departments this number of employees will be transferred, while the Civil Service Law obliges the departments to assign dismissed employees to similar positions in other places. He added that reduction in the Ministry of Education has been done due to the increase in the number of teacher positions, and the results of the mass examinations of teachers in 13 provinces have been announced, except for Faryab province, which has not yet been tested. He said that there is a process for hiring district governors, but for the time being, due to security and social considerations in some districts, a number of district governors are appointed by presidential decree.

Subsequently, Ruhollah Niazi, deputy admin of the local organs, said that the number of official district governors is 364 and the number of temporary district governors is 28. The executive positions have been reduced to create the positions of the district deputies so that the district governor can deal with public issues, and their deputies should carry out the executive cases, of which 100 have been promoted so far and have been appointed as district governors’ deputies, and the rest of them also will be appointed. He said the procedure for hiring provincial deputies for social affairs had been finalized so that they could be appointed through free competition, but that for some provinces, some deputies had been appointed by presidential decree.

After presenting their explanations, the speaker of the Meshrano Jirga, Fazl Hadi Muslimyar, said that due to the sensitive situation in the country, government departments should be careful about the dismissals so as not to add to the social problems. On the other hand, the level of unemployment should not rise, and also, the human resources departments of the provinces should be allowed to perform their duties as promised by the officials in this regard. It is worth mentioning that the absence of the officials of the Presidential Office in today's session was considered against the law and it was emphasized that respecting the law is the common duty of all and the officials should attend the sessions of this House.

Also at today's session, the Presidential Legislative Decree No. 47 on the Law on Medical Scientific Cadre, which was studied in the commissions of the Meshrano Jirga, was presented by the Chairman and members of the Commission on Public Welfare, Natural Resources, and Environment and approved by a majority vote. In open discussions, the Speaker and other members expressed concern about the increase in targeted assassinations of journalists and civil society activists, including the assassination of journalist Adel Aimaq, the head of the local radio station of Ghor province, and for The security of this part of society a declaration should be issued.

Furthermore, the senators said the government negotiating team scheduled to leave for Doha soon to advance the second phase of peace talks with Taliban representatives. The citizens expect the government and the Taliban to agree to a ceasefire. Also, a number of senators said that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had recently happily stated that no US troops had been killed in Afghanistan in the past year. It is while violence against Afghanistan's indigenous people has risen to an all-time high, with large numbers of civilians, soldiers, including journalists and civil society activists being killed by the Taliban. Moreover, some senators called the dismissal of Dr. Ahmad Javad Osmani, Minister of Public Health, as political and illegal, saying that this action would damage trust and stability of work within the Ministry of Public Health, in addition to disobeying the law, it will increase trust between the nation and the government, adding that crime is a personal act and has nothing to do with others. It is worth mentioning that a few days ago, Mr. Osmani's brother and several other employees of the Ministry of Health were arrested by the Control and Supervision Prosecutor's Office on charges of soliciting bribes from the Ministry's staff and this action led to the dismissal of that minister.  

In summing up part of the session, Fazl Hadi Muslimyar, referring to the peace process, said that the Doha peace talks will begin soon and that he hopes that an agreement on a ceasefire will be reached at this stage of the talks, adding that the Senate will liaise with the pro-government delegation to share the senators' views with them. Commenting on the US Secretary of State's remarks, the Speaker said that the country was acting in accordance with its goals and interests because no Americans had been killed by the Taliban in Afghanistan within a year.

Unlike hundreds of civilians and military, including journalists and civil society activists, who were martyred, it is a shame for the Taliban, and we expect the group's leaders to think as a common compatriot and to accept peace with dignity.